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Background: Influenza and COVID-19 infections during pregnancy may have serious adverse consequences for women as well as their infants. However, uptake of influenza and COVID-19 vaccines during pregnancy remains suboptimal. This study aims to assess the effectiveness of a multi-component nudge intervention to improve influenza and COVID-19 vaccine uptake among pregnant women.
Methods: Pregnant women who receive antenatal care at five tertiary hospitals in South Australia, Western Australia and Victoria will be recruited to two separate randomised controlled trials (RCTs). Women will be eligible for the COVID-19 RCT is they have received two or less doses of a COVID-19 vaccine. Women will be eligible for the influenza RCT if they have not received the 2023 seasonal influenza vaccine. Vaccination status at all stages of the trial will be confirmed by the Australian Immunisation Register (AIR). Participants will be randomised (1:1) to standard care or intervention group (n = 1038 for each RCT). The nudge intervention in each RCT will comprise three SMS text message reminders with links to short educational videos from obstetricians, pregnant women and midwives and vaccine safety information. The primary outcome is at least one dose of a COVID-19 or influenza vaccine during pregnancy, as applicable. Logistic regression will compare the proportion vaccinated between groups. The effect of treatment will be described using odds ratio with a 95% CI.
Discussion: Behavioural nudges that facilitate individual choices within a complex context have been successfully used in other disciplines to stir preferred behaviour towards better health choices. If our text-based nudges prove to be successful in improving influenza and COVID-19 vaccine uptake among pregnant women, they can easily be implemented at a national level.
Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier NCT05613751. Registered on November 14, 2022.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s13063-023-07485-9 | DOI Listing |
BMC Proc
September 2025
World Health Organization Hub for Pandemic and Epidemic Intelligence, Berlin, Germany.
Recent public health emergencies, including the COVID-19 pandemic, MERS, and Avian Influenza outbreaks, underscore the need for effective surveillance systems for respiratory pathogens with epidemic and pandemic potential. In 2022, WHO initiated a project to help national public health professionals identify and address gaps in coordinating multiple surveillance systems for early detection and monitoring of viral respiratory events. The project involved developing country-specific approaches to address these gaps and identifying generalizable best practices.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFLancet Rheumatol
September 2025
Service de Médecine interne et polyvalente, Centre Hospitalier du Haut-Anjou, Château-Gontier, France; Université d'Angers, Inserm, CNRS, MITOVASC, Equipe MitoLab, SFR ICAT, F-49000 Angers, France. Electronic address:
Infections are increasingly recognised as a major cause of morbidity and mortality in patients with vacuoles, E1 enzyme, X-linked, autoinflammatory, somatic (VEXAS) syndrome. We conducted a systematic review to characterise the infectious burden of VEXAS syndrome and propose preventive strategies. We included 57 studies (813 patients) showing that infections in patients with VEXAS syndrome were frequent, severe in 40-60% of cases, and fatal in 6-15% of cases.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBiochem Biophys Res Commun
September 2025
Department of Clinical Laboratory Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital of Shandong First Medical University & Shandong Provincial Qianfoshan Hospital, Jinan, Shandong, China; Department of Pathogen Biology, School of Clinical and Basic Medical Sciences, Shandong First Medical University & Shandon
Disulfiram (DSF), an FDA-approved therapeutic agent for alcohol dependence, has recently attracted considerable interest due to its broad-spectrum inhibitory effects against various viruses. Increasing evidence suggests that DSF can inhibit viral replication through two major mechanisms: the inhibition of viral protein catalytic activity and the ejection of Zn from viral proteins. This review comprehensively summarized the molecular mechanisms underlying DSF's antiviral activity against viruses such as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), hepatitis C virus (HCV), influenza virus, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), and Kaposi sarcoma-associated herpes virus (KSHV), with a particular focus on its dual targeting of Cys residues and Zn coordination sites.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Infect Public Health
September 2025
Department of Nursing, College of Nursing and Health Sciences, Jazan University, Jazan 82911, Saudi Arabia; School of Medicine, Universidad Espiritu Santo, Samborondon 091952, Ecuador. Electronic address:
Introduction: Hajj is the largest annual mass gathering in the world, attracting more than 2 million pilgrims from 184 countries. Adverse climatic conditions and close proximity of pilgrims during Hajj rituals create a facilitating environment for the transmission of infectious agents, including multi-drug resistant organisms. Although, several individual reports have been published on specific type of infections, there is a paucity of published work reflecting the overall picture of the prevalence of pathogenic infections during Hajj.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPublic Health Rep
September 2025
Office of the Director, National Center for Zoonotic and Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, USA.
Objectives: Increases in absenteeism among schoolchildren may precede increases in incidence of community-level respiratory diseases. This study assessed the correlations and predictive values between all-cause absenteeism among kindergarten through grade 12 students and community-level increases in influenza and COVID-19.
Methods: We used absenteeism data from 4 school districts (1 each in Arizona, California, Nevada, and Wisconsin) between fall 2018 (starting approximately late August) and spring 2022 (typically ending in May) to calculate correlations between school absenteeism and community-level cases of influenza, percentage of influenza-like illness, and COVID-19.